


The Two Brothers

by lervinsmiss



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: allusion to minor character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 21:39:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12308343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lervinsmiss/pseuds/lervinsmiss
Summary: Day 1 submission for Erwin Week 2017DomesticThis one kind of got away from me. Started out as a fluffy little piece about sick Kid!win and comforting Mama hen Smith and then it got SAD :/Kind of combining this with the Fantasy/ Supernatural prompt for Day 6.Well anyway, sorry for the poor writing and the feels





	The Two Brothers

Erwin’s fever ebbed and waned, lifting him in and out of consciousness like a bird blown on the wind.

A hand cradled the back of his aching head and a spoon gently nudged at his chapped lips.

“There, there, Erwin my love. Drink this broth darling.”

His mother’s voice cooed and he obliged, taking in a mouthful of the salty broth and searing his already burning throat with a hard gulp.

He let out a strained whimper and the spoon was replaced by a flour-scented cloth. The corner of Mama’s work apron dabbed at the broth the ran down his chin.

“Alright, my sweet-heart, alright.” She shushed him and brought him up to half-sit against his lumpy pillows. “Have a sip of water now.” The cold pewter cup was brought to his lips and this he took greedily, eyes still screwed tightly against the painful light. His little hands grabbed at the cup and he drank it down in one.

“That’s it my love.” Mama praised. “Now rest my dear. Papa will be home tonight and he will read you one of his books. Would you like that Erwin, darling?” She smoothed the damp hair from his brow and fussed at his quilts as his slipped back into fitful sleep.

Mama did not come back when he next surfaced. But he could hear her, somewhere down the hall on the little rope bed she and Papa shared with the posts her brother carved as a wedding gift. He could hear her rasping, wheezing breaths from his pallet by the fire.

He could hear Papa whispering to her. And then there wasn’t anymore coughing or rasping. And Papa did not speak for a long time after that.  
And Mrs Müller from down the lane came to feed him broth and mugs of cold water as he cried everyday for Mama.

“Erwin.” Someone was murmuring to him. A gentle voice full of concern.

“Papa!” His voice felt gritty, his whole body tired.

“Tell me a story Papa.”

“Which story lad?” A hand ran over his hair.

“The wise woman in the lake.”

“The White Woman? Right then.” He cleared his throat,

“In the great frozen lakes in the north beyond the walls there are women who guard the water for their mistress Freya who watches over mothers and children. One morning two brothers set out from their village to gather kindling from the nearby wood. To protect them, their mother gave them a satchel of sweet meat to feed the trolls of the forest. To the younger brother she gave a crimson scarf to keep out the cold and to the older brother she gave a hunting dagger to fend off the wolves of the mountain. She warned them,

“Do not go over the ice lakes and do not stay in the wood after dark and do not speak to the wolf of the mountain or you will perish.”

The brothers took the mountain trail out of the valley where they lived, crossing the streams and singing as they went. Soon they became lost and happened upon a lone wolf who said to them,

“Children, you are lost! Follow me and I will lead you to safety.”

They followed the wolf until the reached the mountain which was known to them.

“Come home with me, children and I shall make you a fine meal!”

But the older brother took up his hunting dagger and slit the wolf’s throat.

“The wolf would have eaten us if we had followed him home. We must go on to the wood before we meet more mischief.”

The brothers continued to the wood and filled their baskets with bundles of kindling. But soon the sun set and the woods became dark.

“We will have to sleep here tonight, for the path is too dark to travel.”

So the younger brother wrapped them up in the crimson scarf and they lay down in the roots of the trees.

But before sunrise a group of trolls happened upon them and roused them from their sleep.

“I smell something sweet!”  
“There must be children here to eat!”

The brothers jumped up and wrapped the crimson scarf around the satchel of sweet meat and ran away with their baskets and left the trolls to fight over the bundle.

“Trolls are blind. They won’t know the difference between a child and sweetmeat!”

When they reached the edge of the wood the brothers found themselves on the shore of the frozen lake.

“There is no way around and we can not go back into the forest. We must cross the ice.”

As they crossed the frozen lake, the ice cracked and younger brother fell into the water.

Older brother lamented as the sun rose over the frozen lake and a woman in white appeared before him and consoled him.

“Why are you crying? Don’t you know that Freya will protect your brother? Go home to your mother! And do not tarry”

And so the brother crossed the frozen lake alone and took the mountain trail back to the village and did not tarry until he reached the door to his mother’s home.

He knocked at the door and was beckoned inside.

“Come in my child, bring in the wood and feast with us!”

There his younger brother sat at a great table laden with food and ale and they feasted and gave great thanks to the White Woman and her mistress.”

Erwin had drifted back into his fevered sleep.

“Where did that story come from?” Hange asked from the doorway.

Levi started but turned quickly to busy himself with the bandages and stood to clear the tray from the bedside table.

“I’ve never heard it before.” Hange moved towards the bed and looked over the pasty complexion of their commander.

Levi mumbled, “Dunno, just some horseshit I thought up. It doesn't make any sense.”

Hange hummed thoughtfully as they too Erwin’s pulse and Levi sneaked out the door, thoughts of a decaying leather book hidden under floorboards flitting through his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> I 100% made up that story. Do not ask me what it means, I have to idea.


End file.
